Pathways to Problem Gambling in Seniors

Little is known about problem gambling in older adults, particularly when gambling problems only commence late in life. Knowledge of pathways to later life problem gambling can assist prompt and effective interventions for vulnerable older adults. This study builds on a generic Pathways Model. It proposes routes to problem gambling for individuals aged 55 years and above, with a particular focus on late-life, rather than lifetime problem gambling. Gambling-related risk and protective factors/correlates were extracted from the literature based on the extent to which the studies were senior-specific. Common themes were then identified and classified into 3 main clusters: 1 concerning individual vulnerability factors, a 2nd concerning social and environmental factors, and a 3rd concerning factors affecting behavioural regulation.     

Everyday Discrimination Experienced by Conservative Christians at the Secular University

Two studies explore everyday discrimination experienced by conservative Christians in a secular university setting. In Study 1, 42 conservative Christian students documented 87 Anti-Christian incidents in one week of diaries. Incident frequency and type (e.g., Stereotyping, Hostility, and Interaction Difficulties) paralleled past research of more traditionally studied target groups (e.g., Hyers, 2007a ; Swim, Hyers, & Cohen, 1998 ). Unique patterns emerged as well (e.g., Overt Derogation and Belief Conflicts). In Study 2, a general sample of university students rated their sympathy for Anti-Christian, Sexist, and Anti-Black Racist incidents. Students had less sympathy for Anti-Christian incidents than for Anti-Black Racism and Sexism, though Christian students were more sympathetic to all types of prejudice. For Anti-Christian incidents, sympathy was highest for antagonistic types (e.g., Hostility and Teasing), moderate for Derogation, Belief Conflicts, and Stereotyping, and lowest for Interaction Difficulties. Implications for conceptions of everyday discrimination, diversity, and higher education are discussed.     

Models for decision-making in the public sector

The public sector is composed of a heterogeneous selection of undertakings which, for a variety of economic, political and historic reasons, are under direct government control. The considerable differences between these undertakings, combined with a paucity of common characteristics, has resulted in a variety of decision-making techniques being employed. In many cases there is an affinity with private sector firms, and techniques technically akin to the profit maximisation model are adopted although social welfare considerations supplant notions of financial returns. As with the private sector, textbook models are frequently abandoned to make way for more pragmatic criteria when informational or computational problems become severe. Additional to these undertakings using techniques parallel to those of the private sector, there are others for which specific decision-making models have been developed. These are mainly in areas where effective demand is considered inappropriate as a method of allocation and appraisal. Finally, there is some evidence that, as the multi-dimensional nature of public sector decisions becomes more widely accepted, the notion of satisficing is gradually gaining acceptance replacing that of maximising.     

Spacing, Position, and Order: Interpretive Heuristics for Visual Features of Survey Questions

We present the results of six experiments that demonstrate theimpact of visual features of survey questions on the responsesthey elicit, the response process they initiate, or both. Allsix experiments were embedded in Web surveys. Experiments 1and 2 investigate the effects of the placement of nonsubstantiveresponse options (for example, "No opinion" and "Don’tknow" answer options) in relation to the substantive options.The results suggest that when these options are not differentiatedvisually (by a line or a space) from the substantive options,respondents may be misled about the midpoint of the scale; respondentsseemed to use the visual rather than the conceptual midpointof the scale as a reference point for responding. Experiment3, which varied the spacing of the substantive options, showeda similar result. Responses were pushed in the direction ofthe visual midpoint when it fell to one side of the conceptualmidpoint of the response scale. Experiment 4 examined the effectsof varying whether the response options, which were arrayedvertically, followed a logical progression from top to bottom.Respondents answered more quickly when the options followeda logical order. Experiment 5 examined the effects of the placementof an unfamiliar item among a series of similar items. For example,one set of items asked respondents to say whether several makesand models of cars were expensive or not. The answers for theunfamiliar items depended on the items that were nearby on thelist. Our last experiment varied whether a battery of relateditems was administered on a single screen, across two screens,or with each item on its own screen. The intercorrelations amongthe items were highest when they were all on the same screen.Respondents seem to apply interpretive heuristics in assigningmeaning to visual cues in questionnaires. They see the visualmidpoint of a scale as representing the typical or middle response;they expect options to be arrayed in a progression beginningwith the leftmost or topmost item; and they expect items thatare physically close to be related to each other conceptually.     

Transnationalization of a Recruitment Regime: Skilled Migration to Japan

Japan, facing a demographic decline and challenges by companies and universities to internationalize, has opened its doors to skilled migration. Focussing initially on a two‐step student migration model, Japanese companies are now recruiting young graduates from overseas universities, mainly in Asia. We argue that, with the help of brokers, the domestic recruitment regime (a set of particular employment practices) has been transnationalized. Based on interviews with stakeholders and discussing international recruitment fairs as the site of engagement, we present first evidence that the activities of brokers have the potential to change attitudes towards employability among overseas universities and their students. We also find that this development compromises the original diversity objectives of Japanese employers and point to a lack of rules of engagement for brokers operating across national borders.     

Development of short-form measures to assess four types of elder mistreatment: Findings from an evidence-based study of APS elder abuse substantiation decisions

Improving the standardization and efficiency of adult protective services (APS) investigations is a top priority in APS practice. Using data from the Elder Abuse Decision Support System (EADSS), we developed short-form measures of four types of elder abuse: financial, emotional/psychological, physical, and neglect. The EADSS data set contains 948 elder abuse cases (age 60+) with yes/no abuse substantiation decisions for each abuse type following a 30-day investigation. Item sensitivity/specificity analyses were conducted on long-form items with the substantiation decision for each abuse type as the criterion. Validity was further tested using receiver–operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, correlation with long forms and internal consistency. The four resulting short-form measures, containing 36 of the 82 original items, have validity similar to the original long forms. These short forms can be used to standardize and increase efficiency of APS investigations, and may also offer researchers new options for brief elder abuse assessments.     

Alcohol control and foster care

Parental alcohol consumption is often associated with an increased likelihood of child abuse. As consumption is related to price, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the propensity for increases in the full price of alcohol to influence entry rates and the length of time spent in foster care. Using alcoholic beverage prices and a measure of availability in combination with data on foster care cases, we find that higher alcohol prices are not effective in reducing foster care entry rates; however, once in foster care, the duration of stay may be shortened by higher prices and reduced availability.     

Decolonising and decriminalising child marriage in Africa

Child marriages, often attributed to culture and gender inequality, are prevalent across Africa. Several countries have moved to criminalise the practice. At the core of the criminalisation debate are the fundamental tensions between statutory (state) law on the one hand, and religious and customary law on the other. The growing momentum towards punishment, targeted almost invariably at male offenders, is meant to address the conflict between cultural practices that lead to child marriage and the protection of children's rights. However, some countries have not criminalised child marriage. Thus, the outlawry of child marriages is not universal on the continent. The agitation towards criminalisation—I describe this as ‘popular punitvism’ - as a panacea, is animated by Western penological justifications, principally, deterrence. However, Western criminological and penological theories may not fully account for a phenomenon in other social and geographical spaces. The paper argues for decolonising and decriminalising child marriages in Africa but not legalising it.